Citizens information

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If you are interested in publicity for your event or organization, you can send a press release or call the news organization. One advantage of a news release is that paper can serve as a reminder.

Two keys to producing an effective news release are to get to the point quickly and give contact information, so someone can follow up. Lots of websites offer detailed information about how to write a press release, including [Send2press][1] In the USA, it is important to format your press release in the standard way described in the "how-to" article or it may be ignored. You want to make it as easy as possible for the publisher to run your information so make sure all the names, dates, addresses, and other details are correct before you send it off. If your work or your organization needs to publicize events regularly, writing clear, concise and accurate press releases will pay off in the long-run. More of yours will get into print.

If the problem is with a particular article or broadcast segment, it is courteous to first contact the reporter. Give the reporter a chance to either explain or correct the problem.

Any objective factual errors should be corrected. If the reporter's response is not satisfactory, you should take the matter up the chain of command and ask for the responsible editor.

Some areas are not reporters' responsibilities. These include headlines and captions, which are usually written by copy editors, typically supervised by a news editor. The news editor or wire editor is also generally in charge of a newspaper's handling of wire stories, such as those by The Associated Press.

If you have a more general complaint about coverage, you can contact the editor.

Some news organizations also have an ombudsperson, or ombudsman. Other names for this position are "public editor" or "reader representative".